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Blood Heir

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Blood Heir

By: Amélie Wen Zhao
Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
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About this listen

Blood Heir is the first audiobook in an epic new series about a princess hiding a dark secret and the conman she must trust to clear her name of murder.

Princess Anastacya Mikhailov of Cyrilia has lived her life in safety, hidden behind palace walls. But when she is framed for her father’s brutal murder, she must leave behind everything she has ever known to find his killer and prove her innocence. And there is only one person corrupt enough to help her - Ramson Quicktongue.

A cunning, silver-tongued crime lord of the Cyrilian underworld, Ramson has his own sinister plans - though he might have met his match in Ana. Because in this story, the princess might be the most dangerous player of them all.

An epic with a bloody twist, Blood Heir is perfect for fans of Victoria Aveyard, Sabaa Tahir, and Sarah J. Maas.

©2019 Amélie Wen Zhao (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Epic Fantasy Fiction Literature & Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Young Adult Fantasy Royalty

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Critic reviews

‘Zhao shines in the fast-paced and vivid combat scenes, which lend a cinematic quality that pulls readers in’
NYT Book Review

‘BLOOD HEIR is cinematic storytelling at its best. A stunning new voice in YA, Amélie Wen Zhao has drawn characters who are as complex and captivating as the fantastical world she’s built. Get ready for a retelling like you’ve never seen before’
Adrienne Young, New York Times bestselling author of SKY IN THE DEEP and THE GIRL THE SEA GAVE BACK

‘Sure to keep readers turning pages…Perfect for fans of Amy Tintera or Sarah J. Maas, but readers should prepare for plenty of heartbreak’
Booklist

‘[A] pointed exploration into the consequences of exploitation and the defining nature of choices’
Publishers Weekly

‘Ana is not the typical damsel in distress’
Kirkus

‘So rich and beautifully written, the plot is riveting, and I was utterly taken with the magic system’
Mary Watson, author of The Wren Hunt
Most relevant  
Liked different narrators tone/voice although it was a bit monotonic after a bit, but the story, quite captivating at the beginning became very cliche towards the second half. Just another superpowers = bad = rebellion story.

It's... mediocre okay?

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This book...!
This book had me in a choke hold from start to finish. It was so good. So well written and the characters were amazing, realistic and deep. And they kept true to their personality throughout, which is rare. And the character development made sense and everything was explained and unweiled slightly, a little bit at a time.

I genuinely hated the MMC in the start. This is a true enemies to lovers book. mind that it is no NA book, so everything is subtle and pure. Best book I've read in a while and I look forward to the next, which I've already bought.

Wauw! Just Wauw!

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I requested this book on Netgalley but sadly never got round to reading it. I also have the Illumicrate edition and I was trying to decide if I should buy the sequel special edition too (I did in the end). Amélie was doing a re-read before book 2 came out and I thought this would be a good time to catch up. Annoyingly I got really behind on the read-along and it took me forever to finally finish this book. I read about 60% on my netgalley version and the other 40% I listened to the audiobook.

While it took me forever to read this book it was not because I disliked it. It was because I had blog tour commitments which mean I would pick it up in between and read a chapter or two before moving on to the next tour book. In the end, I saw the audiobook on offer and grabbed it so I could finish it that way and not keep interrupting it with tour books.

I LOVED Ana. She is a fighter. She will stand up for those that are being oppressed. After being forced out of her family, her home into the streets she is more determined than ever that the world knows the truth. She is an easy character to like and to get behind. I can't wait to see where her story goes in book 2.

Ramson, Ramson, Ramson. This man has a line for everything. His brain is a quick as his mouth, most of the time. He's cunning, he's manipulative but with Ana, he might have just found someone he can't outwit. I loved the relationship between these two. Ramson had me laughing at his responses to Ana.

There is quite a bit of world-building but it's not sluggish like in some books it felt more natural to me. I didn't find that it slowed the pace of the book too much. Amélie chucks you into the action but quickly explains what is going on without interrupting the flow. This is something that is quite difficult and for a debut author, it's really quite something. This book read like Amélie was a seasoned author.

This was an excellent YA fantasy story about magic, oppression and human trafficking. This has some loose retelling elements from Anastasia and is set in an alternate Russia. Amélie's writing style is something magical and I know she will be up there as one of my go-to fantasy authors.

I know this book was nearly never published and this thought breaks my heart. What this author when through when this book had its first ARC copies sent out was truly horrific and I think that Amélie is extremely brave and strong to go through that and not only keep writing but keep up a social media presence. I am in awe of her strength and the positivity I see on her Instagram stories. She is a true inspiration.

WOW

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This is the first review I’ve left on this app, because this book deserves it. The characters are nuanced, with believable, satisfying arcs, and the latter chapters are littered with well paced and exciting action/tension scenes. The narrator is absolutely deserving of praise, particularly in scenes of great distress for our main characters - Emily’s acting was nothing short of incredible. To describe the audiobook in a word? Satisfying. I loved YA Rebellion novels in my teens, and still very much enjoy dipping into them now. Will definitely be reading book two; I’m particularly curious to see what Lyn’s future holds.

Deeply satisfying listen

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Just couldn't get along with it. I listened to 4 hours before I dnf.
Didn't like the narration, didn't like the story. Deeply disappointed I had high hopes for it.

Just no love for this book what so ever.

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